News Spotlight

Back-to-school follow-up message from MSAD 15

To: MSAD 15 Community
From: Craig King, Superintendent
Date: August 24, 2022
Re: Back-to-School Follow-Up

Everyone at MSAD 15 is looking forward to reconnecting with our students on the first day of school next week. The first day of school always has a positive buzz in the air. Like the first day of school in previous years, I anticipate plenty of smiles and enthusiasm as we embark on another school year’s adventure. The purpose of this memo is to provide you with information and reminders as we prepare for the students on the first day next week.

Bus Routes 2022-23 school year are on the district website at msad15.org. Please check back regularly as times may change as routes are updated.

MSAD 15, like many school districts across the state, continues to experience a shortage of bus drivers. Therefore, we humbly request that any parents capable of transporting their student(s) to and from school do so. When updating your information in the PowerSchool parent portal, please ensure that you verify the information on the transportation page. Please input your name as the pickup location if you can transport your student. Likewise, please input their name as the pickup location for high school students who drive. By doing so, we will know of your intent to parent transport. If you have trouble accessing the PowerSchool portal, the building secretary at your child’s school can help.

Home and School Communication is essential to ensure clear communication lines between families and teachers. Communication between home and school was critical during the pandemic for many reasons. All home-school communication was affected by a high sense of urgency.

As we move into a post-pandemic period, we encourage teachers and parents to communicate regarding student matters. Our teachers will respond to all questions and concerns from parents. While there is no guarantee on the specific time frame for a response, generally, families can expect a response within two school days.

Building administrators, program directors, and department supervisors will communicate with families through e-mail, telephone, School Messenger, the MSAD 15 website, and school-based newsletters. In addition, the central office will use School Messenger and the MSAD 15 website as its primary communication tools with families and the broader community.

As always, in-person or Zoom meetings are an option for families to discuss important issues with teachers, administrators, and other school personnel.

School Start and End Times

High School/Middle SchoolStart: 7:40 a.m. Students may begin
arriving at 7:20 a.m.
End: 2:00 p.m.
Dunn SchoolStart: 8:40 a.m.Students may begin arriving at 8:20 a.m.End: 3:00 p.m.
Memorial/Russell SchoolStart: 9:00 a.m. Students may begin arriving at 8:40 a.m.End: 3:20 p.m.

First Student Day of School:

— All students at Memorial School, Dunn School, and Russell School will have their first day on Wednesday, August 31, 2022.

Grade 5 and Grade 9 (Freshmen) will have their first day of school on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, to welcome students and provide cohort-specific orientation to the new schools.

Grades 10 (Sophomores), 11 (Juniors), and 12 (Seniors) will have their first day of school on Thursday, September 1, 2022.

Bus Drivers Needed
MSAD 15 and school districts across Maine and the nation continue to struggle with a bus driver shortage. Our school district should optimally have 14 or 15 full-time bus drivers to meet our busing transportation needs. We currently have ten. We had two bus drivers retire at the end of June. We have been able to hire trained, licensed bus drivers to replace the two retirees. We have not had a “net gain” in new bus drivers for 2022-23. We continue to recruit drivers who hold commercial bus driver’s licenses. We also recruit and offer support to potential drivers who want to obtain a commercial bus driver’s license and work for MSAD 15. If you know someone interested in pursuing employment as a bus driver for MSAD 15, please have them contact Diane Boucher dboucher@sad15.org or Peggy Bowden at pbowden@sad15.org. Bus Drivers receive a competitive wage, health insurance, dental insurance, retirement benefits, sick leave, and other benefits.

There are other employment opportunities at MSAD 15 with competitive wage and benefits packages that can be found at: https://msad15.org/employment/

Enjoy the remaining days of summer, and see you soon.